REDISTRIBUTION AS A TOOL FOR SUPPORT? When does Cohesion Policy foster EU support

Sammanfattning

Cohesion Policy is a vital part of the EU since it makes up about a third of the yearly EU budget.By taking up a third of the budget, it would also be wishful to think that the Cohesion Policywould have some impact on the EU citizens’ perceptions about the EU. However, the currentliterature about Cohesion Policy and its potential effect on support is very inconclusive. Thereis also lack of research regarding the specific funds of Cohesion Policy and about the fundspotential different effects on citizens’ perception of the EU. The purpose of this thesis is toexamine the specific effect of each of the funds of Cohesion Policy and support for EU andEuropean integration. By examining the funds specific effect on support for EU and Europeanintegration, by including an interaction effect about citizens’ awareness. The result of this thesisgoes against a majority of the research advocating for the importance of awareness in the effectof support in the relation with the funds. The thesis also finds very little support regarding thefund's potential explanation in citizens’ support for EU and European integration.